Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze

 
  • Family : THEACEAE
    (Tea Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : CHAAY FAMILY (चाय फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Theaceae
  • Basionym : Thea sinensis L.
  • Synonym(s) : Camella thea Link
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze
  • Common name : Tea plant, Common tea
  • Vernacular name :
    • Theyilai (Tamil)
    • Cha (Oria)
    • Theyaka (Telugu)
    • Chaikapatta (Hindi)
    • Tea gida (Kannada)
    • Chaya, Theyila (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Shrub or Tree
  • Habitat : Forests, Raised in plantations
  • Comments / notes : Often in cultivation on hilly slopes of higher elevations; Sometimes as an escape from cultivation into wild; Leaf extract is used as beverage.
  • Key identification features : Shrub up to 2 m high, branches glabrous; Leaves elliptic-oblong, coriaceous; Flowers solitary, axillary, nodding, white; Capsules leathery, trigonous or subglobose.
  • Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
  • Distribution :
    • Kerala : Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Kottayam district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
    • Maharashtra : Satara district, Sindhudurg district
    • Odisha : Mayurbhanj district
    • Tamil Nadu : Tamil Nadu
    • Sikkim : Sikkim
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Tirap district
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Bhutan, China, Hainan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Bhutan, China, Hainan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Literature :
    • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
    • Henry, Kumari & Chithra (1983). Flora of Tamil Nadu, India vol. 1.
    • P.K . Hajra ., D.M. Verma and G.S. Giri (1996). Materials For The Flora Of Arunachal Pradesh , Vol (1), Pg : 220
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Camellia sinensis. Downloaded on 7 September 2024.

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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